Cleopatra's Cookies
by Little Christian
Summary: Cleo makes some amazing cookies - but during the night they get stolen! It's up to Cleo and Gracie to find the culprit!
1. Chapter 1

**New PoM story! YAY! Enjoy!**

The HQ was quiet as the nine penguins went about their business. Suddenly, a large explosion came from the Lab.

"AHHH!" Cleo screamed. She rushed out the door, coughing from the smoke.

"Are you okay?" Kowalski asked, rushing to her side, concern on his face.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine!" Cleo was smiling ear-hole-to-ear-hole, her grey eyes dancing with excitement. "But I've succeeded!"

"Succeeded in what?" Rusty asked, immediately interested. He, Cam, Ace and Gracie gathered round to listen.

"I have succeeded in creating these!" She held out her flipper, which balanced a plate which held a pile of golden-brown discs, with little dark brown spots scattered about.

"What are those?" Gracie asked.

"They're cookies, silly," Cleo laughed. "Try one." Gracie reached for a cookie; as did Rusty, Ace and Cam. Cam took a bite.

"OH MY HOLY SWEET-TOOTH!" she cried, staring at the delicious food in her flipper. "That's the best thing I've ever tasted!"

"Better then furros?" Private pondered.

"Never tasted one," Cam replied. Gracie nibbled hers, and smiled.

"This is very yummy! You try some, Daddy!" She handed her cookie to Private, who also tasted it.

"That's a smashing good cookie," Private nodded. "What's the recipe?"

"Uh… recipe?" Cleo asked.

"Yes, the recipe. What's in the cookies?"

"Uh… well… th-that's classified. Highly confidential."

"Fair enough," Ace agreed. "Wouldn't want someone to steal the recipe to these delicious cookies."

"I've had a marvellous idea!" Gracie's usually soft British accent spoke up. "Why don't we sell these to the other zoo animals? It would be very selfish to keep this yummy biscuits to ourselves. What do you say, Cleo?"

"I say that's a great idea!" Cleo agreed. "Let's start now!" The five chicks ran out of the HQ, slamming the fish-bowl door behind them.

"Cookies! Get your fresh, hot, delicious cookies! Get 'em right here!" Rusty cried into a megaphone.

"Did I hear the magic-y words?" Julian asked, as he jumped down next to Rusty, startling him. Mort and Maurice followed.

"What word would those be?" Gracie asked.

"Since you asked so nicely, I will be telling you," Julian said, leaning his face into hers. "The magic-y words are being delicious, and cookies. Now where would I be getting some of these delicious cookies?"

"Cleo made them!" Gracie said with a grin.

Julian reached over to the plate on the ground next to Cleo, before Cam slapped his paw away.

"Ah, ah, ah," she said. "You have to pay. We're selling the cookies, not giving them away!"

"Uh… how do we pay?" Maurice asked. Cam tapped her beak in thought.

"You have to get us some bananas!" Cleo cut in. Cam looked at her in surprise.

"Bananas? Really?"

"They're one of the ingredients of the cookies," Cleo explained. "I can't make more if I don't have bananas."

"I do not want to be giving away my bananas," Julian said, rubbing his chin in deep thought. "But I do want to be having one of these delicious cookies."

"Only one banana per cookie," Cleo continued, trying to tempt him. "Take it or leave it."

"Errmmm…" Julian sighed. "I'll take it."

"Sold!" Ace exclaimed. Maurice ran to fetch three bananas, and they each purchased a cookie. Mort and Maurice made sure they ate theirs before Julian tried his, in case he took them. Julian took a cautious bite. His ears perked up, his eyes widened, and his smiled as he chewed.

"Wow," he said, between bites. "This is… one of the… best cookies I've ever… HAD! Maurice!" he called to his right-hand lemur. "Get me sixteen more bananas! No, no, make it _seventeen!_"  
"Right away, you majesty!" Maurice saluted, scampering off to the lemur habitat.

"And _you._" He pointed at Cleo. "I command you to make more of these cookies! I shall come over everyday to buy some off you."

"Uh… yes, sir!" Cleo said. After Maurice came back with the bananas, and Julian got his seventeen cookies, the lemurs left, leaving the five chicks alone to sell the rest.

"Cookies! Fresh, hot, delicious cookies!" Rusty yelled into the megaphone. "Only one banana each!"

"We're not getting many more customers today," Ace said.

"Cleo, be a dear and let me have a cookie," Cam said for the umpteenth time that day.

"No," Cleo said for the umpteenth time that day. Cam sighed, and sat down on the ground to fiddle with some weird looking piece of equipment.

Rusty set down the megaphone, and took a drink of water.

"Can I take a break?" he asked in a croaky voice. "My throat hurts."

"Go ahead," Cleo said with a sigh. Rusty sat down next to Gracie, who was flipping through a comic book.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked, looking over her shoulder.

"It's a detective comic," Gracie replied, her beak in the book. "Well, actually, it's more of a graphic novel."

"But you can't read. I can't either. How do you know what's going on?" Rusty asked. Gracie hesitated.

"Uh…" Gracie gulped; she had promised never to tell a lie, but this was super important for her to keep to herself - the fact that she had learned to read and write! "The illustrator is obviously very good at telling a story in pictures," Gracie explained. "I can follow the story perfectly! Sometimes," she giggled at herself, "I even solve the mystery before the detective."

"Hey, let me see that!" Cleo gasped as she scanned the page. "This is amazing! Where did you find this?"

"Um… I think it fell out of child's knapsack," Gracie replied. "He had a whole series of these, all tied up in a nice, convenient bundle, and they were so colourful and interesting, I couldn't resist them."

"Well, they certainly look inviting," Cleo agreed. "Shame you can't understand what the characters are saying, though."  
"Yeah…" Gracie agreed, with a little laugh. "Such a shame."


	2. Chapter 2

**Next one! And, if you can figure out who the culprit is before the end of the story... (drum-roll) GOOD FOR YOU! XDXD Enjoy!**

That night, Cleo went to lock up the remaining cookies (besides Julian, they sold a couple to Marlene, and Burt) in her special vault.

"They should be safe here," she told Gracie, who was the only one besides herself who knew where they were kept.

"Why do I get to know where they are?" Gracie asked.

"Because I can trust you," Cleo laughed, ruffling Gracie's head feathers, and making her bow uneven.

"But why must you tell anyone at all?" Gracie questioned, straightening her bow.

"Because, I'm sure I'll tell someone if I had to keep the secret to myself. I'm having a hard enough time keeping the recipe a secret. I already told you guys they contained bananas. And peanuts, because it was the only way to get Burt to buy one."

"They also contain chocolate chips, and three eggs," Gracie pointed out, before clamping her beak shut.

"How did you know?" Cleo looked at her suspiciously.

"Well, the chocolate chips are easy, because you can see them in the cookie," Gracie explained. "And I can just tell with the eggs – not sure how. I can figure out the other ingredients, if you'd-"  
"That won't be necessary," Cleo interrupted. "Just don't tell anyone what you have figured out, okay?"

"Cross my heart, and hope to keep my beak shut!" Gracie promised. Cleo smiled.

The next morning, after breakfast, Cleo rushed into the Lab, and pulled the plate from its vault. Closing the vault, she hummed happily as she looked down to see how many cookies they had to sell today.

"We have-" She gasped, and dropped the plate, which shattered on the floor. Gracie rushed in, hearing the noise.

"Cleo, what's wrong?" she asked, panicked.

"Gracie," Cleo began slowly. "Did we have any cookies left yesterday?"

"I think so," Gracie nodded. "Yes."

"Then where have they all gone?" Cleo continued.

"Th-they're gone?"

"Yes," Cleo nodded, now looking a bit angry. "They are. And you were the only one who knew where they were!"

"Cleo, I honestly don't-"

"I think you do," Cleo interrupted. "Gracie, what did you do with them?" She turned towards the younger chick, a scowl on her face.

"Cleo, please be reasonable!"

"I am being reasonable; and I am also being logical. You were the only other one who knew where the cookies were." She took a step towards Gracie, who, in turn, took a step back.

"I know, but I didn't take them!" Gracie continued to step away from Cleo, as the taller chick advanced towards her.

"Grace, you have lied in the past. How do I know you're not lying now?"

"I did promise never to lie again," Gracie whimpered. Cleo sighed, and her face softened, but Gracie whimpered again, still frightened by Cleo's anger.

"Okay, okay, I believe you," she said after a minute of silence. "But who could have stolen the cookies from the vault? First of all, no-one besides you or me know where they are. Secondly, if they did know where they are, no-one knows the combination, except for me."

"Which is a perfectly valid reason why I couldn't have taken them," Gracie added. Cleo face-flippered herself with a groan.

"Right, of course!"

"Don't worry, Cleo," Gracie continued. "You make another batch of those cookies, and I'll find out who's taking them."

"You think can do it?" Cleo asked, looking at her with doubt.

"I've been reading those graphic novels, Cleo. I know I can do it!"

"By 'reading' you mean looking at the pictures and figuring out the story, right?" Cleo asked. Gracie stiffened, and quickly nodded.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I meant!" she said quickly, before leaving the Lab. "I'll find the crook!"

**Plz Reviw! XDXD**


	3. Chapter 3

**Next chappie! Enjoy!**

As Cleo made her second batch of cookies, Gracie paced around the HQ, deep in thought. The girls had agreed not to tell anyone about the missing cookies yet, but to question the suspects subtly, before going for an accusation. Private watched her pace.

"What's on your mind?" he asked her.

"Just figuring out a case, Daddy," Gracie replied, grateful she had often done the same action when a mystery in her novels stumped her.

"You're really into those comics," Private commented. "You'll grow up to be a penguin Sherlock Holmes!" He nodded in approval, before heading topside for training. Gracie giggled to herself. "Sherlock Holmes? Me? That's a laugh!"

"What's a laugh?" Ace asked, coming into the room and heading to the TV.

"Just a thought," Gracie smiled. Just then, a huge explosion came from the Lab, and Cleo rushed out, coughing, and holding a plate of cookies in her flipper.

"They're done!" she announced, in a croaky voice. Ace and Gracie looked at her with concern.

"Maybe you shouldn't be in the Lab when the cookies bake," Ace suggested.

Today, the five chicks set up shop in Central Park. Julian came by again, and bought eighteen cookies. Bada and Bing came for a try, and purchased six each. Gracie counted the cookies they had by the end of the day.

"Six left," she muttered to herself, drawing six circles to represent cookies in her notepad. "No-one looking suspicious. But who could be a suspect?" Just then, Julian walked up to Cleo.

"Hey, cookie-penguin-girl!" he called.

"Yes, Julian?" Cleo asked.

"Eh, can I be having more of those cookies?"

"Got bananas on you?" Cleo asked. Julian nodded, and handed her three bananas. Cleo handed him three cookies, and he bounded off happily.

"Julian! Of course!" Gracie cried, quickly writing down his name. Then she realised that Cleo would want to look at her notes, so she tore out the page, and drew a picture of Julian's head instead.

"Who have you got?" Cleo asked, as she stored the cookies in their vault. Gracie showed her the suspect list.

"I also kept track how many cookies we had left after selling them for today," Gracie said. She quickly erased three of the circles, and handed the notepad to Cleo.

"Only one suspect?" Cleo asked, examining the drawing.

"So far," Gracie replied. "No-one else seemed suspicious."

"Well, its progress," Cleo sighed, handing the notepad back to Gracie.

"I'll question him tomorrow," Gracie offered.

"Okay."

"Come on, girls," Kowalski called from the doorway. "Time for bed now."

"Okay, Dad," Cleo said with a yawn. She and Gracie went to their own room in the HQ. Private tucked Gracie in.

"How's that mystery going?" he asked.

"Not so good," Gracie answer yawning. "I'll try and figure it out tomorrow…" She closed her sleepy green eyes, and dozed off to sleep.

**Please review! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

_"AHHH!"_

Gracie jumped up in bed, almost falling onto the floor. She looked around the room, then realised the scream came from the Lab. She jumped out of bed, and rushed inside to find Cleo stomping around the room, an angry expression on her face. When she saw Gracie, she stopped.

"Are you sure you're not the one stealing them?!" she snapped.

"Cleo, I promise you, I didn't take them!" Gracie insisted. "And why are you so upset about them being stolen, anyway? They're just cookies!"  
"Just cookies?" Cleo stared hard at Gracie. "JUST COOKIES?! Do you realise how difficult it is to make them?"

"I realise how painful it could be," Gracie said with a shrug, thinking about the horrific explosions.

"Each ingredient has to be broken down to the smallest atom! They need to be precisely measured! It's a slow and painful process, and I've wasted two mornings on it!"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Gracie cried, putting her flippers up in defence. "I'll try my best to find the culprit!"

"Go and question Julian, NOW!" Cleo demanded, pointing out the door. Gracie, afraid to disobey, rushed out the HQ, and to the lemur habitat, grabbing her notebook on the way out.

As climbed over the brick wall, and found Julian relaxing in a lawn-chair, wearing sunglasses and sipping a smoothie.

"Hello, Julian, sir," she said politely.

"Eh? Oh, hello, little mini-penguin," Julian replied, peering over his glasses at her. "What brings you here? Oh, Maurice! Bring the little mini-penguin a smoothie."

"Oh, no that won't be necessary, your majesty," Gracie protested. "I'm only staying for a moment. I just need to ask you a couple of questions."

"Eh, what are these questions being for, then?" Julian asked, sitting up straight, and taking off his sunglasses.

"For, uh… the royal… uh… interview of… um… Weekly Royal magazine."

"This is sounding interesting to my ears," Julian said leaning his chin on his elbow to listen. "Go on." Gracie hesitated. If she was going to be a detective, she'd need to make a tale or two to keep her cover.

"Well, this magazine interviews a royal animal every week at a different zoo. I was chosen to carry out the interview, because you know me, and you'd be yourself, instead of showing off for the people interviewing."

"I'll buy that," Julian nodded. "Let's get started!"

"Uh, okay, first question." Gracie glanced down at her notepad. "Where were you last night between the hours of six-thirty PM and eight AM?"

"I was partying all night with my lemur buddies," Julian answered. Gracie glanced over to Maurice and Mort, who looked rather tired. _He's telling the truth. _She thought. She scribbled down his answer, and continued the 'interview'.

After ten more minutes of questions and answers, Gracie stood to leave.

"Thank you for your time, Julian," she said politely. "I'm sure the magazine will be very satisfied."  
"Eh, why don't I get a copy of this magazine?" Julian asked as she turned to leave.

"Um… because the royal animals that they interview… uh… don't get to read it. It's only for their subjects, so they can see what a wonderful royal life their kings and queens have."

"That sounds…" Julian tapped his chin in thought. "Wonderful! I'm sure all my subjects at this zoo would love to know how hard I work to provide for… me." He jumped into the air, and landed back on his lawn chair, heaving a satisfied sigh of contentment. Gracie slipped out before he could ask her anything else.

**Please review! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here is it being!**

She slid into the Lab, slamming the door hut behind her, and startling Cleo, who was working on another batch of cookies.

"Careful, Grace!" she cried, catching the test tubes and beakers that fell.

"Sorry!" Gracie squeaked. "Julian's innocent."

"You sure?" Cleo asked.

"His alibi says so. He said he partied with Mort and Maurice all night, and they were real tired."

"Great; any other suspects?"

"Um… no." Gracie smiled sheepishly, and Cleo face-flippered herself. "Guess I'm not a very goo detective, am I?"

"Got any clues?" Cleo asked; now it was Gracie's turn to face-flipper.

"Clues; of course…" she groaned. She flipped through her notes, before coming to a conclusion. "I got nothing."

"That's a ton of help!" Cleo snapped. "No suspects! No clues! And my cookies are still being stolen! I can't live with making a new batch everyday! It'll be bad for my-"

The Lab suddenly exploded in an explosion worse than the others. Cleo and Gracie were flung into the wall, and pieces of the roof caved in. Shelves and cabinets collapsed, and there was destruction everywhere. Gracie pulled herself from a pile of rubble, coughing as smoke and dust entered her lungs.

"The cookies must have gotten overheated!" she cried, climbing out of the rubble. "Cleo?" she called, her voice croaking. "Cleo, where are you? CLEOPATRA!" Just then, the four adult penguins rushed through the door, climbing over piles of rubble and debris to get to Gracie.

"Grace!" Private cried, rushing to her side, concern in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Daddy," Gracie nodded, tears entering her stinging eyes from the dust. "Where's Cleo?"

"We'll find her; don't you worry," Skipper said, taking charge as always. "Private, get her outta here, and make sure she's alright."

"Aye aye, Skippah!" Private saluted, taking Gracie's flipper in his own, and leading her out of the Lab. Rico started digging through the rubble.

Private sat Gracie on the table in the HQ, and examined her for any injuries. The worst of it was a gash on her cheek, which Kowalski could stitch up soon. Gracie coughed, and dust flew off her grey down-feathers.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Private asked, looking into her eyes. Gracie nodded, but stifled a sob, and leaned into her father's out-stretched wings. She cried in silence for a moment.

"Will Cleo be okay?" she finally asked in a muffled voice.

"I don't know, sweety," Private admitted. Just then, three dusty penguins came out from the destroyed Lab. Kowalski was carrying Cleo, who looked so small and weak in his flippers. Gracie gasped at the sight of her friend, and wiped her eyes.

"Uncle Kowalski!" she cried. "Is Cleo okay?"

"I think…" Kowalski looked down at his adopted daughter. "I think she should be just fine. She had managed to protect herself with a broken shelf which I hadn't gotten round to fixing yet. So she has no major injuries, and will be perfectly fine."

Gracie let out a sigh of relief. Kowalski noticed the gash on her cheek, and immediately set to work stitching it up.

**Please review! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**And now it's time for the ****_FINAL_**** chapter. Like you, I wasn't expecting it to end so soon... I though two more chapters... ANWAYYYYYY, enjoy!**

"Now I think you two," Private said to Cleo and Gracie, "need to go outside for a quick swim to wash off that dust." The girls nodded, and headed topside. There they found the other three chicks.

"What happened to you two?" Cam asked, noticing their dust-covered feathers, and the stitches on Gracie's cheek.

"Cookies," Cleo replied simply, and jumped into the pool. Cam shrugged, not understanding. When Cleo and Gracie finished their swim, she asked.

"What about cookies?"

"Well, they always explode in the final stage of baking," Cleo replied. "This time, however, I had the oven on too high, and it was pretty devastating.

"You were both in there?!" Rusty cried. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Cleo assured him. Gracie's beak trembled, and she sniffled. "For the most part." Cleo added.

"It was s-so scary!" Gracie whimpered, only now feeling terrified from the experience. She wiped her eyes and sighed. "And I still haven't figured out who is stealing the cookies."

"I doubt anyone would be stealing them now," Cleo said. "The Lab's totalled so I can't make anymore."

"N-no more cookies?" Cam stammered. "And someone's been… stealing them?! Wh-who would do such a terrible thing?"

"That's what I've been trying to find out," Gracie explained. She took out her bow and twisted it to squeeze the water out, then placed it back in her feathers. "I just can't figure it out!"

"Wh-who are your suspects?" Cam asked, looking nervous.

"Just Julian, but he's innocent."

"He wouldn't have been able to break into the vault in the first place," Cleo added. "I could have figured that out earlier, and saved you the trouble of questioning him, Grace."

"Never mind," Gracie smiled.

"Where'd Cam go?" Ace asked. The four chicks looked around.

"Escape artist," Rusty sighed. "Can slip away with without a sound."

"Sounds more like a ninja," Cleo pointed out. "Or a spy."

"Yeah, I guess," Rusty agreed. "But spies have cool gadgets, like invisibility watches, or gadgets to break into safes, or mind-control devices."

"Say that again…" Gracie said slowly.

"Mind-control devices?" Rusty asked, confused.  
"No, no, no, before that!"

"Invisibility watches?"

"No, no, that part about breaking into safes!"

"Gadgets to break into safes."

"Have any of you noticed that Cam has been tinkering lately?" Gracie asked slowly, looking excited.

"Now that you mention it," Cleo agreed. "She did have a strange looking device she was fiddling with when we sold cookies the other day."

"And she has been staying up late building things," Ace added.

"I know who stole Cleo's cookies!" Gracie suddenly exclaimed, and rushed inside the HQ without further explanation. The three remaining chicks stared at each other confused.

Gracie found Cam in the chicks' room. She was sitting on her bunk, drawing something on a sketchpad.

"Making new designs for your spy gadgets, Cammy?" Gracie asked, startling Cam, who fell out of her bunk.

"Maybe… how did you know?" she asked.

"A little detective work," Gracie replied. "You stole Cleo's cookies, did you, Cam?"

"No, why would I do that?" Cam asked.

"Because you like them so much!" Gracie answered, pointing an accusing flipper at the older chick. "You spied on us in the Lab when Cleo stored the cookies in the vault, then stayed up late working on a gadget to break inside."

"Okay, so maybe I did make a safe-cracking device," Cam admitted. "That doesn't mean I stole them, or broke into the vault!" Gracie felt herself heat up with rare anger at her friend's stubbornness, but she kept her cool. How would she get her to confess?

"Then I guess you didn't know Cleo kept her test tubes and other Lab equipment in there, as well."

"What are you talking about?" Cam blurted. "Cleo doesn't keep her Lab equipment in there – just the cookies!"

"Aha!" Gracie cried, pointing at Cam. "You _did _brake into the vault, and stole the cookies!"

"What? I- OH! Alright, alright, I confess!" Cam groaned. "I broke in. I stole them. I ate them, but I just couldn't help it!"

"Why did you do it, Cam?" Gracie asked. "It's dangerous for Cleo to make those cookies every single day. Look what happened to us today!"

"I know, I know, but they were sooooo good!" Cam sighed. "I am sorry…"  
"You should be apologising to Cleo," Gracie said. "I suggest you do that now." Cam nodded, sighed again, and waddled out of the room to find Cleo. Gracie smiled, proud that she solved the case.

"Maybe I could be a detective penguin," she wondered aloud.

**I'll levae that up to you: Think I should write more mysteries for little Gracie to solve? Review if you think so, and if you don't... review anyway (just mention if you think it's a good idea or no). ;) ANYWAY, please reveiw! :D**

**P.S. To all you VeggieTales fans out there, you'll possibly NOT care to know I have Pizza Angel going through my head... Thank you. XD**


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